Available 24X7
(281) 587-1111
(281) 587-1111
(281) 587-1111
If you have been injured in an auto accident or lost a family member in a wrongful death incident, you may wonder whether punitive damages apply to your case. Our Houston punitive damage lawyer can help.
Punitive damages, also called exemplary damages, are controlled by statute and case law in Texas. They stem from bad conduct, such as a drunk driver or a company that intentionally ignores safety rules, causing an accident or fatality.
Our punitive damage attorney in Houston, Texas, has over 35 years of experience getting punitive damages after a serious injury or fatal accident. Our personal injury lawyers have fought for justice by seeking punitive damages since 1985 and recovered millions of dollars for our clients.
If you have questions, ask a preeminent-rated punitive damage lawyer for answers at (281) 587-1111, or complete a case consultation request!
Our Top-Rated Houston Punitive Damages Lawyer has been trusted to get maximum compensation for victims for over 35 years!
and discuss your case with Houston’s leading lawyer.
The Baumgartner Law Firm’s punitive damages attorneys have been helping families maximize damages in punitive damages cases for over thirty years. Our list of multimillion-dollar cases is exhaustive. Our personal injury success is based on our experience and commitment to justice for our clients.
Our Houston punitive damage lawyers have helped families that have lost a loved one in trucking accidents where we discovered drivers driving over the allowed hours. Often, we have to sue the truck driver to learn of federal safety violations.
We helped families win wrongful death lawsuits when trucking companies broke the safety rules. We have helped burn victims after severe burns from landlord negligence. We have helped victims of drunk drivers sue bars and clubs that over-served drunk drivers. We have helped families who have lost a father and husband in construction accidents.
Our punitive damage lawyers in Houston are very aggressive in helping you win cases involving gross negligence and punitive damages.
We will evaluate your personal injury claims and assess if punitive damages may be appropriate to seek.
We are very selective in the cases that we agree to handle. And by being selective in accepting cases, we will dedicate the firm to your winning your case. Our first steps after being hired include the following:
We will thoroughly investigate the accident in which you were injured or lost a family member to be in the best position to hold the wrongdoer accountable and obtain justice for your family. Frequently, we will engage licensed investigators and consult expert witnesses to best serve justice for you and your family.
While obtaining punitive damages for negligence is not easy and limited to cases where the conduct was willful or “gross negligence”, we have the experience to calculate your punitive damage claim and fight your fight.
We will often conduct significant research regarding the defendants, prior claims, driving records, safer alternative designs, and other factors helpful to winning your case. Our legal team is headed by Greg Baumgartner, a preeminent-rated attorney with decades of experience.
We will retain expert witnesses who can explain the defendant’s actions, accident, and damages to your jury if necessary. These witnesses can include:
We will frequently work with treating physicians and others to develop the evidence necessary to maximize your recovery in a lawsuit. Because we have been helping families who have lost a loved one for over three decades and have handled thousands of severe personal injury cases, we are uniquely positioned to help you.
We have been Houston’s go-to punitive damage law firm for over three decades. To maximize your compensation and hold wrongdoers accountable, call to see if we can help you! Call (281) 587-1111!
Punitive or exemplary damages are damages in addition to and different from “actual damages.” In a personal injury lawsuit, damages include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, mental anguish, disability, and disfigurement.
In a wrongful death lawsuit, actual damages include loss of consortium, financial losses, loss of companionship and society, mental anguish, and loss of inheritance.
Punitive damages are punishment damages and are not measured by the actual damages sustained by the victim. Punitive damages are meant to deter conduct in the future that society believes is reprehensible. In other words, punitive damages are such that they are intended to punish the behavior of a defendant to prevent unconscionable conduct from occurring again!
Under Texas law, punitive damages are also known as exemplary damages. They are awarded in personal injury cases where the victim proves clearly and convincingly that the defendant’s actions amounted to gross negligence, malice, or fraud.
Clear and convincing evidence must be presented. Our personal injury lawyers have won many cases and have recovered punitive damages by proof of gross negligence.
Gross negligence is often pled in personal injury cases in Texas. Gross negligence is defined as an act or omission, which, when viewed objectively from the standpoint of the defendant at the time of its occurrence, involves an extreme degree of risk, considering the probability and magnitude of the potential harm to others;
The defendant has actual, subjective awareness of the risk involved but proceeds with conscious indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others. In short, punitive damages are when the defendant knew his conduct was wrong and dangerous but proceeded anyway!
Gross negligence is not saying that the defendant intended to hurt anyone, only that they knew that their contract was such that it involved dangerous behavior.
A good example would be a person who went to happy hour at the local watering hole and consumed a fair amount of alcohol before getting behind the wheel of their vehicle. When they started their trip home, they did not intend to have an accident or hurt anyone, yet they knew they were intoxicated and shouldn’t be driving.
In this example, a drunk driving accident lawyer may sue for gross negligence if they can prove the case with clear and convincing evidence. While they did not intend to hurt anyone, they consciously got behind the wheel drunk, knowing that it was dangerous.
Malice refers to a specific intent by the defendant to cause substantial injury.
The punitive damages law in Texas is found in Chapter 41 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code. The law allows the recovery of exemplary or punitive damages only if the victim can prove clearly and convincingly that the harm was caused by fraud, malice, or gross negligence. The jury must be unanimous in their verdict.
In determining the number for exemplary damages, the jury shall consider evidence, if any, relating to the following:
Net worth is a person’s total assets minus the person’s total liabilities on the date determined appropriate by the trial court. Accordingly, a defendant’s net worth is relevant and subject to discovery in a lawsuit where the plaintiff seeks to recover exemplary damages.
However, Section 41.0115 allows a defendant to file a motion to limit discovery of net worth and tell a claimant has demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of the claim for exemplary damages.
Thus, an accident victim must first file a motion to obtain net worth discovery and show the trial court that there is a substantial likelihood of success in getting such discovery. Our punitive damages lawyers have been hugely successful in many Texas cases.
Texas has a punitive damage cap. Texas law limits or caps the amounts of punitive damages in section 41.008 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedy Code. The Texas cap on punitive damages Can severely restrict punishment in cases with limited economic damages.
In Texas, punitive damages are limited to the greater of:
1. A) Two times the amount of economic damages; b) An amount equal to any noneconomic damages found by the jury not to exceed $750,000 or 2. $200,000.
Economic damages are direct economic losses, such as lost wages, medical expenses, and the like. Conversely, noneconomic damages include pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional pain, loss of consortium, disfigurement, physical impairment, loss of companionship and society, and loss of enjoyment of life.
There are certain areas where the punitive damage caps provided in Texas law are not limited in amount. Lawmakers in Texas have specified 17 separate Penal Code sections to overcome the damage limits on exemplary claims.
The most commonly used exceptions for personal injury attorneys include Penal Code section 49.07 intoxication assault, Penal Code section 49.08 intoxication manslaughter, and section 22.04 injury to the child or elderly person.
To take advantage of the exceptions to the punitive damage caps, the plaintiff must obtain a specific jury finding that the defendant violated one of the criminal code sections. Additionally, the violation must have been committed knowingly and intentionally.
To hold a corporation accountable for exemplary or punitive damages based upon the actions of its employee, the plaintiff must prove that:
For purposes of exemplary damages, the actions of a vice principal are deemed to be the actions of a corporation because a vice principal represents the corporation in its corporate capacity. This means that specific individuals’ actions will be deemed the corporation’s actions.
Vice principals can include corporate officers, those with authority to employ direct and discharge employees, those engaged in performing nondelegable duties, and those delegated the management of all or part of the business.
An example where a truck accident lawyer might seek punitive damages includes where the trucking company knew the vehicle was out of service but required the 18-wheeler to be used instead of doing the required repairs first.
If you have been injured or lost a loved one and believe punitive damages may be appropriate and would like to speak with an experienced Houston punitive damage lawyer, call personal injury lawyer Greg Baumgartner at Baumgartner Law Firm, which is based in Houston, for a no-obligation consultation. We have collected millions for our clients from punitive damage lawsuits.
Contact us for a FREE initial consultation on an injury accident.
Call (281) 587-1111!
Baumgartner Law Firm
6711 Cypress Creek Pkwy
Houston, Texas 77069
(281) 587-1111
Texas provides a procedure where the trial can be split into two separate parts to keep a jury from hearing net worth testimony that may impact the liability determination. If the defendant elects to bifurcate the trial, they must file a motion before the jury selection or, as otherwise, in a pretrial order by a court. Upon the motion of any defendant, the bifurcation must occur.
When a defendant elects to split the trial, the first portion of the trial is to determine liability for actual and exemplary damages and the number of actual damages. If the responsibility for exemplary damages is established in the first portion of the trial. The second portion of the trial will include the awarding of exemplary damages.
Our punitive damage lawyers have found that the defendants elected to engage in serious settlement discussions after positive findings in the first portion of the trial.
We have been trusted by Houston families for over 38 years and have numerous wins involving punitive damages. Call Baumgartner Law Firm for experienced and exceptional representation!
Call (281) 587-1111
NEED HELP? HAVE QUESTIONS?
